Good news for hearing loss patients! Fully implantable cochlear implants being developed are expected to become commercially available in the not-so-distant future.
Sharing this information exclusively with your own news portal LifeInChandigarh.com on the sidelines of a news conference to announce the national level ‘ENT Surgical Conclave 2025’ to be held at Fortis Hospital Mohali on March 8 and 9, Dr Ashok Gupta, Director & Head, ENT, Fortis Hospital Mohali, said studies are showing promise for eventually eliminating the need for an external charging device.
Padma Shri awardee Prof (Dr) JM Hans, a pioneer in the field of cochlear implant surgery who has performed nearly 5000 cochlear implants in SAARC countries, will be among several operating faculty members who will give live demonstrations on latest otorhinolaryngology advancements and robot-aided surgeries employed in the treatment of ENT disorders and head and neck cancers to 200-odd delegates, largely comprising junior and senior residents from medical colleges across the country.
The two-day conclave is being organised by the Department of ENT, Head and Neck Surgery, Fortis Hospital Mohali in collaboration with the All-India Rhinology Society and the Punjab Medical Council.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), sound levels at or below 70 decibels (dB) are generally considered safe and unlikely to cause hearing loss, even with prolonged exposure; however, repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 dB can lead to hearing damage.
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Addressing the issue of neonatal or early age hearing disabilities attributed to various hereditary and non-hereditary factors, Dr Gupta said the government has made it mandatory to conduct hearing tests of babies at birth for early detection and treatment.
At a later age along with other factors, including ageing, exposure to prolonged uninterrupted high decibel noise has been widely documented to play a major role in hearing loss. While sounds at or below 70 dB (decibel) are considered safe, exposure to sounds at or above 85 dB for extended periods (for more than 8 hours at a time) can cause hearing loss, he further said.
The thumb rule is that louder the sound, shorter is the safe exposure time. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) explains it thus: Sounds over 85 dB can damage your hearing faster. The safe listening time is cut by half for every 3-dB rise in noise levels over 85 dB.
Replying to a specific query regarding ill effects of high-decibel music played at social functions, concerts, etc, Dr Gupta gave the example of children often complaining of hearing loss after returning from such events but returning to normalcy as soon as the damage to inner ear self-heals.
Dr Gupta, with expertise spanning treatment of head and neck cancer, robotic surgery and cochlear implantation, strictly advised against use or earphones as they lead to faster hearing loss “without any ifs and buts.”
He also talked about a campaign launched to make Punjab and entire North India ‘deafness free’ under which awareness and testing camps are being organised across the region.
